I found your description on the web. It's a very simple version of my own "Leak Meter". I'm not marketing it for sale. It's the tool that makes all the difference for repairwork that has a measurement for performance! With a small low pressure supply of air, the Manometer shows the slightest difference in air pressure under examination. The "Probe" tube has a small hole in the side at the end with simple air fittings on either side. Pads can be checked. It's the same as yours.
@jonlandell Sounds a nice piece of gear. I don't have a ferret but was thinking of getting one . Testing with fine shims is , I think , not as god as your way. Also the tester needs a good sense of the tone colourings on a finer instrument The last repadding I had done is not good ..despite having the flute looked at by three repair folk .. a German , and two from London. Notes are difficult to find, the sound lacks sweetness. Thank you for comments.
This looks like old school technology which is okay but, why do you not use a leak light? I've been using that method for several decades. It is very easy to use, easy to see the leaks and determine where the shim goes and how thick it should be and is MUCH faster than this feeler gauge. When flutes come into the shop finding leaks is very easy to do and reliable, and I can see what others miss that have worked on the flute. I'm not saying feeler gauge method is wrong or bad, just very slow and has the potential to miss spots. The light is a fluorescent tube that shows the leaks very clearly.
Yes, this may be the "old school" for padding with felt pads and feelers. I use a light with Schmidt pads, which have a metallic surface on the skin, which is made of Mylar. These pads are not translucent so the light shows exactly where there is a leak and verifies what I find with the feeler, so they work together. But with pads that use the bovine membrane skin the light doesn't give a perfect reading of the size and location of the leak, because the skin is too translucent for that. You may gain some skill by using that method over a long period of time, but the feeler has always been the most reliable tool for finding leaks, and that's the skill that can only be taught by doing it under personal training in this class. Hundreds of students have done it, and have gone home with a reliable way of installing the old felt pads so they won't leak - even after many months of use. I don't teach them to wet and clamp the pads to form a heavy impression like they do in the big manufacturers. Yes a light impression is fine, but only after all the leaks are removed and the feeler draws some resistance 360 all the way around first. I also show them how to use the 'Mag Machine' to final check the seal and connections. Shim, Shim, Shim! :-) -Jon
I found your description on the web. It's a very simple version of my own "Leak Meter". I'm not marketing it for sale. It's the tool that makes all the difference for repairwork that has a measurement for performance! With a small low pressure supply of air, the Manometer shows the slightest difference in air pressure under examination. The "Probe" tube has a small hole in the side at the end with simple air fittings on either side. Pads can be checked. It's the same as yours.
Have you heard of the ''Flute Ferret''? S Wesell?
@jonlandell Sounds a nice piece of gear. I don't have a ferret but was thinking of getting one . Testing with fine shims is , I think , not as god as your way. Also the tester needs a good sense of the tone colourings on a finer instrument The last repadding I had done is not good ..despite having the flute looked at by three repair folk .. a German , and two from London. Notes are difficult to find, the sound lacks sweetness.
Thank you for comments.
This looks like old school technology which is okay but, why do you not use a leak light? I've been using that method for several decades. It is very easy to use, easy to see the leaks and determine where the shim goes and how thick it should be and is MUCH faster than this feeler gauge. When flutes come into the shop finding leaks is very easy to do and reliable, and I can see what others miss that have worked on the flute. I'm not saying feeler gauge method is wrong or bad, just very slow and has the potential to miss spots. The light is a fluorescent tube that shows the leaks very clearly.
Yes, this may be the "old school" for padding with felt pads and feelers. I use a light with Schmidt pads, which have a metallic surface on the skin, which is made of Mylar. These pads are not translucent so the light shows exactly where there is a leak and verifies what I find with the feeler, so they work together. But with pads that use the bovine membrane skin the light doesn't give a perfect reading of the size and location of the leak, because the skin is too translucent for that. You may gain some skill by using that method over a long period of time, but the feeler has always been the most reliable tool for finding leaks, and that's the skill that can only be taught by doing it under personal training in this class. Hundreds of students have done it, and have gone home with a reliable way of installing the old felt pads so they won't leak - even after many months of use. I don't teach them to wet and clamp the pads to form a heavy impression like they do in the big manufacturers. Yes a light impression is fine, but only after all the leaks are removed and the feeler draws some resistance 360 all the way around first. I also show them how to use the 'Mag Machine' to final check the seal and connections. Shim, Shim, Shim! :-) -Jon
Maybe you need somebody there to tell you, "Good enough!" *-]